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KEY 



SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL 



DANIEL'S VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. 



KEY TO THE LATTER PART OF THE 



THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 



BY WM. MEDILL. 



We have also a more sure word of prophecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye 
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day-dawn, 
and the day-star arise in your hearts.— II Peter, 1: 19. 



CLEVELAND: 

PRINTED BY HARRIS <fc FAIRBANKS, HERALD OFFICE, BANK STREET. 

1854. 



KEY 



SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL' 



DANIEL'S VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS, 



KEY TO THE LATTER PART OE THE 



THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS, 



BY WM. MEDILL. 



We have also a more sure Word of prophecy ; wheretinto ye do Well that yc 
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day-dafs'H, 
and the day-star arise in your hearts. — II Peter, 1: 19. 



s0 v 



•X 
if % 



CLEVELAND: 

POINTED Et HARRIS & FAIRBANKS, HERALD OFFICE, BANK STREEtf. 



18 5 4. 






Entered according to Act of CoDgress, in the year 1854, 

By ¥M. MEDILL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Ohio. 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 



DANIEL'S VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. 



1. "In the first year of Belshazzaf, king of Babylon, Daniel 
Lad a dream and visions of his head upon his bed, then he wrote 
the dream and told the sum of the matters." 

This is one of the most extraordinary prophesies within the 
lids of the Bible, when viewed in connection with the magnitude 
of the events to be accomplished, and the great length of time 
required for the same. 

Daniel wrote the dream in order to hand it down to posterity, 
and verbally told the sum of the matters unto others for their 
present instruction. 

2. "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and 
behold the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea. 

3. "And four great beasts came Up from the sea, diverse one 
from the other." 

These four great beasts represented the four" great universal 
monarchies that have had their existence — or nearly so — in the 
world. They came up from the sea ; an allegorical figure of 
speech, signifying they would have their existence amid the 
political, turbulent, conflicting elements of the times, and prevaih 
The first had its existence, and arose into power by preying upon 
small nations, until it became great. And the others arose into 
power by devouring each other in succession. They have been 
the cruel tyrants and oppressors of God's people, both Jews and 
Christians, since they have had an existence. 

4. "The first beast was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I 
beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up 
from the earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a 
man's heart was given to it." 

The lion represented the Babylonian, the first great general, ty- 
rannical monarchy, which was raised to its pinnacle of power and 
fame by Nebuchadnezzar, that prince of tyrants, who, not satis- 
fied with glutting his avarice and ambition on the neighboring 



4 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OP DANIEL. 

nations, led his mighty hosts from a far country, and without the 
least provocation, invaded the land of Judea, overrun and sub- 
dued the whole nation, besieged Jerusalem, demolished the 
beautiful temple of Solomon, carried away all its treasures and 
the whole nation into captivity. " And had eagle's wings," which 
signified the extent of its dominions, stretching over the then 
known habitable parts of Asia and Africa. These wings were 
plucked by Cyrus, the Persian, on the self-same night on which 
Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, was feasting his 
thousand lords and desecrating the hallowed golden vessels of the 
house of the Lord, w T hich were carried away at the time of the 
captivity. And on the self-same night, and in the midst of his 
bacchanalian feast, w T hen that mysterious hand wrote upon the 
wall, the sight of which so troubled the king as to change his 
countenance, and loose the joints of his loins so that his knees 
smote one against the other. 

U A man's heart was given to it." When Daniel had inter- 
preted proud Nebuchadnezzar's vision, when the haughty mon- 
arch was driven from the society of men and made to eat grass 
like the oxen, and his body wet with the dew of heaven until 
seven times (or years) passed over him, until he was constrained 
to acknowledge and adore the God of heaven as the only true 
God. 

5. " And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and 
it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth 
of it, and between the teeth of it, and they said thus unto it. 
Arise, devour much flesh." 

This second universal, tyrannical monarchy, called the Medo 
Persian, arose into power by the conquest of the Babylonian 
monarchy. It was like unto a bear, on account of its grasping, 
voracious, and avaricious thirst for blood and conquest. 

"The beast raised itself on one side," when the Medo Persian 
monarchy was united under Cyrus, after the death of his father, 
Cambyses, and his father-in law, Cyaxaris. 

"The three ribs in the mouth of it and between the teeth of 
it," signified the Babylonian, Medo, and Persian monarchies con- 
solidated into one great empire under Cyrus the Great and his 
successors. Under this monarchy, wicked Hainan obtained 
an edict from king Ahashuarus, for the destruction of all the. 
Jews, without respect to age or sex, throughout his mighty 
empire. But through the instrumentality of the faithful Mor- 
decai and his niece Esther, God counteracted the wrath of proud 
Haman, and the remainder of his wrath was restrained, when he 
was hanged on the same gallows he had erected to hang Mordecai 
on, and when a counter edict was signed by the king, granting 
the Jews privilege to stand in their own defense against their 
enemies, which saved the lives of all the Jews scattered through- 
out the mighty empire. 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 5 

6. "After this I looked and lo another like a leopard, which 
had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl ; the beast had also 
four heads, and dominion was given unto it." 

This third beast like a leopard, represented Macedonian or (^re- 
dan universal, tyrannical empire, founded by Alexander the Great. 
A leopard is one of the most spotted animals in creation, which 
was intended to represent the compound contrast of civilization 
and great advancement in the arts and sciences on the one hand, 
and their abominable pagan, idolatrous religion on the other. 

"Four wings of a fowl," signifying the rapid conquests of 
Alexander throughout the four quarters of the known habitable 
earth. 

"The beast had also four heads." After the death of Alexan- 
der, his mighty empire was divided between his four generals, 
these were the four heads of the beast. 

"And dominion was given unto it," signifying it would be a 
great and universal dominion. Some length of time after the 
division of the. empire, Antiochus Epiphanes, that cruel tyrant, 
became one of the four heads of the beast; he broke the truce 
Alexander had made with the Jews ; he beseiged and took Jeru- 
salem, slew forty thousand of the inhabitants, and carried as 
many into captivity, and forced many of them to offer swine's 
flesh upon the sacred altar of their holy temple. 

7. " Alter this I saw in the night, visions, and behold a fourth 
beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had 
great iron teeth ; it devoured and break in pieces, and stamped 
the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the 
beasts that were before it and it had ten horns." 

This fourth beast represented the great universal, tyrannical 
Roman empire, which arose into power by conquests over the 
fragments of the Grecian, Persian, and Babylonian empires. 

"It was dreadful, and terrible, and strong, exceedingly," far 
exceeding any of its predecessors in magnitude, strength, and 
power. 

" And it had great iron teeth." The strongest of metals is 
here made use of to represent the unpitying, ferocious, and ava- 
ricious greed of the leaders of this mighty empire, after wealth, 
honor and renown, far exceeding, in this respect, any of its pre- 
decessors. 

" It devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue 
with the feet of it." That is, that no nation under heaven to 
Which they could have access, but would be so completely sub- 
dued and devoured by this great iron-toothed beast, that their 
very nationality would become nearly extinct, except in history. 

" And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it." 

1st. The Roman empire had its beginning and had increased 
nearly to its zenith of power under a republican form of govern- 
ment. 



6 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 

2d. It assumed a monarchial form after Julius Csesar overthrew 
Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia, and was made perpetual 
dictator. 

3d. When Constantine, at the commencement of the fourth 
century, embraced the Christian religion and suppressed the an- 
cient pagan religion of the empire. 

4th. It was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, be- 
cause it had ten horns. 

The ten horns here spoken of, arose into power out of the 
ruins of the Roman western empire. Charlemagne, king of 
Prance, during the latter part of the eighth century, erected the 
western Roman empire, which embraced the greater part of 
Europe, and was continued in the line of the blood royal, for 
upwards of a century, whence, after being reduced by civil wars, 
it was transferred into Germany, where, after undergoing a great 
many vicissitudes of fortune, a small and feeble remnant of it 
still exists. Prom the ruins of the Charlemagne empire the ten 
horns or papal Roman kingdoms have all nearly, had their 
commencement and growth. The empire of Charlemagne was 
strictly Popish in religion, and so also were the ten horns during 
the time of their growth up to maturity. These horns were 
Prance, Spain, Portugal, England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, 
Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. These were the ten full grown 
horns of the Papal western Roman empire prior to the time Mar- 
tin Luther, the great reformer, made his appearance in the Electo- 
rate of Saxony as the great Protestant reformer. 

8. u And I considered the horns, and behold there came up 
among them another little horn before whom there were three of 
the first horns plucked up by the roots, and behold in this horn 
there were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great 
things." 

This little horn came up from among the ten horns of Popery 
when Henry VIII., king of England, separated himself and na- 
tion from under the Popish yoke, and established the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of England and Ireland ; and afterwards Scot- 
land became the third member, which completed the little horn, 
well known, since the union, by the title of Great Britain and 
Ireland. This is the little Protestant horn which came up and 
supplanted three Popish horns, so completely plucking them up 
by the roots, leaving neither root nor branch therein, no more for- 
ever, as formerly, in a religious or political point of view. 

" And behold in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a 
man." The structure of the English establishment of Church and 
State, is one of the strangest of any of the Protestant nations of 
Europe. Since the days of bloody Mary — so called — the Protes- 
tant kings and queens of England have always been the nursing 
fathers and mothers of Protestant sects against Popery ; not only 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 7 

same time they have been "bloody persecutors of all those who 
would not conform to the English establishment. Their mode 
of proceeding, in this respect, fairly represents the crafty, jealous 
eyes of the little horn, or high church establishment towards 
those of her subjects who differed from her in point of conscience. 

Again, the eyes of the little horn, or high church and state of 
England, will fairly represent man in his fallen, unrenewed state 
of nature; proud, selfish and avaricious after gain. For the 
great body of this church, both ministers and members, are satis- 
fied with a formal worship ; satisfied with the letter of the moral 
law for its spirit, and with infant sprinkling, with the sign of 
the cross on the forehead, for regeneration or the baptism of tile 
holy spirit. The history of that nation since the rise of this little 
horn, goes to prove they are worshipers at the golden shrine of 
the god mammon. From whence came all the wars and fight- 
ings that nation has been involved in since the union of her 
church and state. Has it not, in general, proceeded from her 
insatiable, covetous lust after gain. 

"And a mouth speaking great things." England has rendered 
herself proverbial for her haughty, arrogant tone of language, 
and bearing, both in church and state. She boasts of the une- 
qualed purity of her religion, built, of course, upon that holy rock, 
Henry YIIL, against which the world, the flesh, or the devil can 
never prevail. She boasts of her great marine establishment. In 
the language of her poets, "Britain rules the waves." She 
boasts, also, of her military department ; that even the great Na- 
poleon, in his palmiest days, was not sufficient to make her quail ; 
and that to her the great honor of binding the monster, the dis- 
turber of nations, was reserved. 

We have observed that during the tyrannical reign of the three 
first great general monarchies, the Jews were sorely afflicted, but 
under none did they suffer so severely as that of the Roman. The 
Eomans, under the Emperor Vespasian and General Titus inva- 
ded their country, besieged Jerusalem at the passover, when there 
might be two or three millions of people in the city, surrounded 
it with troops, trenches, and walls, that none might escape. After 
a siege of six months, (during which time the heart sickens at 
the sufferings of this unhappy people from the Romans without 
the city, and famine, pestilence, and factions among themselves 
within,) the city was taken and their beautiful sacred temple, in 
which six thousand had taken shelter, were burnt together. The 
whole city, except three towers and a small part of the wall, was 
razed to the ground, and the foundations of the temple and other 
noted places were plowed up. At Jerusalem alone it is said one 
million one hundred thousand perished by sword, famine, and 
pestilence. Great numbers were carried away captives, and their 
nationality, unto the present day, has become extinct. 

Under the tyrannical reign of the Roman emperors, the Chris- 



8 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 

tians, also, have been most cruelly persecuted. Bloody Nero, 
thirty-one years after our Lord's ascension, having set fire to the 
city of Eome, threw the odium of that incendiary act on the 
Christians. Those were apprehended who openly avowed them- 
selves to be of that sect. Their death and tortures were cruel ; 
they were either covered with "the skins of wild beasts and torn 
in pieces by devouring dogs, or fastened to crosses and wrapped 
up in combustible garments, that when the daylight failed, they 
might, like torches, serve to dispel the darkness of the night. 
Historians have recorded ten general persecutions of Christians, 
the last of which began in the nineteenth year of Dioclesian, 303. 
In this dreadful persecution, which lasted ten years, no less than 
150,000 died by the violence of their persecutors; besides 700,- 
000 that died through the fatigues of banishment or the public 
works, to which they were condemned. 

At a more advanced period of the Western portion of this ty- 
rannical empire, the Christians had still greater persecution to 
endure from those of the same name, viz., that of Popery, during 
the tyrannical reign of the ten horns, before and after the refor- 
mation. That formidable tribunal, the Inquisition, was erected 
in the twelfth century, under Pope Inocent. That nothing might 
be wanting to render this spiritual court formidable and tremen- 
dous, the Roman pontiffs persuaded the European princes, and 
more especially the emperor Frederick II., and Louis IX., king 
of France, not only to enact the most barbarous laws against 
heretics, and to commit to the flames, by the ministry of public 
justice, those who were pronounced such by the inquisition, but 
also to maintain the inquisitors in their office and grant them their 
protection in the most open and solemn manner. The edicts to this 
purpose issued by Frederick II., are well known. Who has not 
read of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's eve, by that cold blooded 
monster, Charles IX., king of France, and the tediums chanted 
at the great cathedral of Rome by the conclave of Pope and Car- 
dinals, when the news had arrived of the butchery of heretics. 
The want of space forbids us to take notice of the cruel persecu- 
tions in Spain and Portugal during the tyrannical sway of that 
dreadful tribunal, the Inquisition. 

The persecution of God's people, under the tyrannical reign of 
the little horn, we will glance at in due time. 

9. " I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient 
of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair 
of his head like the pure wool, his throne was like the fiery flame, 
and his wheels as burning brass." 

As the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy, including the 
ninth and fourteenth verses, is yet in the future, we will only 
venture an opinion as regards its fulfillment. 

"I beheld till the thrones were cast down." The signs of the 
times strongly indicate that we are living on the verge of time 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OP DANIEL. 9 

when the tyrannical thrones of European Christendom — the rem- 
nant of the ten horns and little horn — are tottering on their foun- 
dations, ready to be cast down. An under-current of republican 
principles, is deeply rooted and at work in the majority of minds 
of the sorely oppressed people in Europe. The risings of 1847-S 
is proof positive of what the people can and will do, under God, 
in order to be free. 

" And the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white 
as snow." The God of heaven is here to be understood sitting 
in judgment on those tyrannical monsters of oppression in churh 
and state, and through the agency of his oppressed people, will 
hurl them and their thrones to the dust, and erect a republican 
form of government in their stead. Whether the casting down 
of thrones will be confined to Anti -Christian Christendom, or to 
more general tyrannical powers, we know not, but are inclined, to 
the belief that the latter will be the case. 

10. " A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, 
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times 
ten thousand stood before him, the judgment was set and the 
books were opened." 

"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him," sig- 
nifying the irresistible, all consuming judgment that will be 
poured out on tyrants and their abettors, through the agency of 
the nerved arm and valiant hearts of God's oppressed people, 
in order to be free ; and when free, the thousand thousands and 
ten thousand times ten thousand, will stand before the God of 
heaven and give him unfeigned thanks and praise for their great 
deliverance. And this great deliverance will surely be accom- 
plished, because God will sit in judgment and the book of his 
remembrance of all the oppression his poor people have suffered 
under tyranny, will be inflicted on the heads of this or some fu- 
ture generation of oppressors. 

11. "I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words 
which the horn spake ; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and 
his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." 

Words without actions are often but empty sounds, therefore 
we are not to understand that the judgment to be inflicted on the 
little horn, will be merely on account of haughty, overbearing 
language, but on account of words and actions combined. Let 
any candid man read the history of England since the days of 
Henry VIII., and he will easily perceive that the proud, haughty, 
avaricious policy of her combined civil and religious gorernment, 
have had no equal in Christendom. 

"I beheld then, till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed 
and given to the burning flame." It is self evident, from the face 
of the text, that the little horn (England or the beast so called,) 
will be the first Christian nation on which this very severe judg- 
ment will be inflicted. So completely will she be destroyed, that 



10 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 

nothing of her present system of policy will remain ; all will be 
given to the burning flame of those whom she hath long trampled 
on and oppressed; who will acknowledge no king but Jesus 
Christ their great deliverer. 

12. " As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their do- 
minion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season 
and time." 

That is, the rest of the tyrannical, beastly powers, whether Po- 
pish or Protestant, will be stripped of their power by concessions 
made to their subjects, which will satisfy them for a season and 
time, which, in our opinion, signifies a period of one hundred 
and one years ; i. e. a time, a century, a season, a year. The 
reason the lives of the other beasts will be prolonged, is obvious; 
they will take the alarm from the just judgment inflicted on the 
little horn and profit thereby. 

13. "I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of 
Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient 
of days, and they brought him near before him. 

14. "And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a 
kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve 
and obey him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
destroyed." 

When an end shall be made of the Anti-Christian dynasty of 
church and state tyranny, that long looked for, glorious period 
of the consummation of Christ's kingdom of grace and peace on 
earth will take place- 

"The clouds of heaven," signifies Christ's tried, faithful evan- 
gelical servants, rallying around the standard of his cross for the 
maintainance of pure and im defiled religion ; lovr to God and Jove 
toman in the broadest sense of the word. "Wherefore seeing 
we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, 
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, look- 
ing unto Jesus," &c. Heb. 12th, 1. 

This great kingdom and everlasting dominion of Christ's, will 
embrace the whole earth. The one God and one mediator be- 
tween God and man, will reign triumphant without a rival. 
Popish mediators, such as the Virgin Mary, will be all disposed 
of, and Christ will be all and in all. There will be no danger of 
that kingdom being destroyed, because it will be established upon 
Christ the rock of ages ; not upon Peter, as the Anti-Christian 
kingdom has been. 

15. "I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, in midst of my body, 
and the vision of my head troubled me." 

It appears that this extraordinary vision was too great for the 
prophet to be able to comprehend, on account of its brevity, mag- 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 11 

nitude, and the great, distant future of so much of its accom- 
plishment. 

16. "I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him 
the truth of all this ; so he told me and made me know the inter- 
pretation of the things." 

"Whether Daniel was in the body or out of the body when this 
great vision was presented to his mind, he does not say, but it 
appears he was surrounded by beings of a superior order to him- 
self, to whom he applied for instruction concerning the vision. 
The disembodied spirit — we must suppose it was — complied with 
his request, and interpreted the vision in the following manner : 
': J : IT. " These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which 
shall arise out of the earth." 

These were the four universal monarchies heretofore spoken of, 
viz: the Babylonian, Medo Persian, Grecian, and Roman. 

18. "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom 
and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." 

(See notes on 13th and 14th verses.) 

19. "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, 
which was diverse from all the others ; exceeding dreadful, whose 
teeth were of iron, and his nails brass, which devoured, break in 
pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it. 

20. " And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the 
other which came up and before whom three fell, and of that horn 
that had eyes and a mouth that spake very great things, whose 
look was more stout than his fellows." 

The prophet appears to have been able to comprehend the mean- 
ing of the three first great general monarchies ; it was the fourth, 
the great and mighty Roman empire, with its ten horns, and lit- 
tle horn, which gave him the greatest perplexity, and about which 
he was most interested, particularly the little horn. 

21. "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them." 

After the protectorate of the commonwealth of England by 
Cromwell, and the restoration of Charles II. to the throne of Eng- 
land, a great change in the state of affairs in that nation took 
place. Scarcely was he seated on the throne, when he determin- 
ed to take vengeance on the puritans for the supposed innocent 
murder of his "father. "The persecution commenced by an act 
of uniformity, in which it was required that every clergyman ca- 
pable of lidding a benefice, should possess Episcopal ordination; 
should declare his assent to everything contained in the book of 
common prayer ; should take the oath of canonical obedience ; 
abjure the solemn league and covenant, and renounce the princi- 
ple of taking arms against the king, on any pretense whatsoever." 
By the unrelenting rigor with which the act of uniformity was 
enforced, a large number of the Presbyterian clergy were ejected 
from their congregations, and deprived of their benefices, both in 



12 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 

England and Scotland, and forbidden to come within five miles of 
a corporation. It was made a crime to attend a dissenting place 
of worship. A single justice of the peace might commit without 
a jury, and might for the third offense, pass sentence of transpor- 
tation beyond the sea for seven years. If he returned to his own 
country before the expiration of his exile, he was liable to capital 
punishment. The jails were therefore soon crowded with dissent- 
ers. Large numbers sacrificed home, property, and country, for 
their religion, which to them was dearer than all other considera- 
tions. Large numbers fled to Ireland, Holland, and the wilds of 
North America, during this and the former reign of Charles L 
During the whole reign of Charles II., of twenty -five years, an 
unceasing persecution of Presbyterians was maintained ; and in 
the language of the text, this little horn made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them. 

Nor was the condition of the puritans much bettered under the 
• short reign of James II. 

A bigoted Papist, who an ascending the throne, declared his 
intention to maintain the established government both in church 
and state; although at the same time he was determined to follow 
the course of bloody Mary, and re-establish Popery in all its for- 
mer rigor in the United Kingdom. God had taken away the life 
of wicked Mary at the end of four years reign. The arbitrary, 
wicked, persecuting spirit of that cruel prince, against all those 
who opposed Popery, caused the people to banish him from the 
nation at the end of four years also, which put an end to the 
wicked, persecuting race of Stewarts in the British isles. 

22. " Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given 
to the saints ot the Most High, and the time came that the saints 
possessed the kingdom." 

In the state of Massachusetts, a colony was formed by those of 
the Cromwell school who were banished from their country on 
account of their religion and republican principles— who would 
acknowledge no religion but what the bible warranted, nor no 
king but Jesus Christ ; carefully instructing their children in the 
same orthodox religion, and republican principles. By these self 
independent Puritans was planted the glorious Tree of Liberty, 
amid the granite rocks of the New England states, which the An- 
cient of days watered with heaven's dews, and heaven's showers. 
And the small grain of mustard seed grew, and became a great 
tree. And these same unwavering, unchanging Puritans were 
the main germ to help to break the tyrant's chain, and throw wide 
open the doors of this great asylum to the oppressed of all nations, 
who ever since have been emigrating in large numbers, and tak- 
ing shelter under the branches of this great tree, and eating of 
the fruit thereof, and none daring lawfully to make them afraid. 

"And judgment was given unto the saints of the Most High." 

When 1776 had fully come, a severe judgment was about to be 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 18 

inflicted on the proud, arrogant little horn, represented at that pe- 
riod by George III., of Great Britain and Ireland, by the sons of 
freedom, as instruments in the hands of God, who in the course 
of that unheard of, unequal struggle from under tyranny, not on- 
ly gloriously defeated the hordes of semi-barbarous, hireling Hes- 
sians, and barbarous Indians, but England's choicest sons ; de- 
throning the tyrant's reason, and causing his knees to smite 
against one another like Belshazzar's. 

"And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.'' 
When 1783 had arrived, this representative of the little horn 
was necessitated to sign that inglorious peace which stripped him 
and his nation of one of the finest portions of earth's surface, 
as it respects variety of climate, richness of soil — abounding in 
minerals, internal river and Jake navigation, and water privile- 
ges — external sea coast and harbors, and territory extending from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the great lakes to the gulf 
of Mexico. This was the kingdom Daniel saw in vision, that 
the Ancient of days would bestow on his saints, and his poor and 
oppressed of all nations, without regard to sect, caste, or color. 

23. "■ Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth king- 
dom upon earth, which will be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall 
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in 
pieces. " (See notes on verse 7.) 

24. "And the ten horns out of his kingdom are ten kings that 
shall arise, and another shall arise after them, and he shall be di- 
verse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." 

After the invasion and subjugation of the great Roman Em- 
pire, during the latter part of the fifth century, by the Ostragaths, 
Vesigaths, and Huns, (the northern hive, so called,) and by other 
barbarous invaders, France was the first of the ten horns or king- 
ly powers that arose in Western Europe out of the Roman Em- 
pire, and the first that embraced the Popish Christian religion, 
and also one of the greatest pillars of Popery during the dark 
ages thereof. No one of the ten kingdoms or horns of Popery 
was so powerful, nor none caused such torrents of martyr blood 
to flow, nor none of them hath had such great revolutions, nor 
hath suffered such severe chastisements. Want of space forbids 
us to take notice of the other nine separately, as regards the pe- 
riods of their rise, their strength, and popularity, or weight of in- 
fluence in behalf of Pepery. But one thing is certain, they all 
flourished at the time the great Protestant Reformer made his ap- 
pearance, and were then firm supporters of Popery. 

"And another shall rise after them." 

This was Henry VIII., who was contemporary with Luther, 
and wrote a book against Luther, for which performance the Pope 
conferred on him the title of "Defender of the Faith." 

"And he shall be diverse from the first." 

Henry YIIL, one of the most licentious princes in Europe, in 



14 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 

order to marry Ann Boleyn, demanded of the Pope a divorce from 
his wife, Catharine of Arragon, which was utterly refused, on ac- 
count of political considerations. Henry threw off the Popish 
yoke, and established a church, since known as the Church of 
England. This church is diverse from the first, viz., that of the 
Popish ten horns, because it is neither Popish nor Protestant, but 
a mongrel, half-way linked between them. It is diverse from the 
Popish, on account of the supremacy Henry obtained by act of 
Parliament, the title of " The only Supreme head of the Church 
of England upon earth." Henry composed a theological system 
of worship, which he forced upon his subjects by coercion. He 
burnt Protestants for denying that absurd doctrine of transub- 
stantiation, and Papists, for denying that he was the only supreme 
head of the church of England upon earth. 

Again, this little horn — the church and state of England unit- 
ed — was, and is, diverse from the first, inasmuch as the bible 
is not prohibited from the laity, nor the church service performed 
in an unknown tongue, she only upholds the two scriptural sac- 
raments, denies the existence of purgatory, prayers for the dead, 
the use of holy water, private confessions to priests, and absolu- 
tion by means of penance, a plurality of Mediators, and discards 
the use of beads, relics, pilgrimages, and works of supererogation, 
and celibacy of the clergy, &c. But, is not diverse from the 
former ten horns, nor those of them still existing, in the union of 
church and state, the imposition of tithes, episcopal succession 
and supremacy by the laying on of hands, sprinkling of infants, 
and the sign of the cross in baptism, confirmation of adults by 
bishops, the ritual used in the morning service as a substitute for 
masses, read prayers, clerical surplices, and aristocratic, pompous 
churches, wherever the means can be obtained, consecration of 
the same, and blasphemous titles, such as lord Bishop, or lords 
spiritual. 

"And he shall subdue three kings." 

Hath not England, Ireland and Scotland, who, before the re- 
formation, were all Popish kingdoms, been effectually subdued, 
and transformed by the church and state policy of the little horn, 
and the toleration of Popery, and other dissenters, held optional 
for political purposes ; hath she not acted out both to the letter, 
during her civil and ecclesiastical ministration ? 

25. "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, 
and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High, and think to 
change times and laws ; and they shall be given into his hand, 
until a time, and times, and the dividing of time." 

This boasting little horn speaks great words against the Most 
High, by making use of arrogant, unqualified assertions, such 
as, that her church and state policy combined, embraces the very 
essence and purity of religion, and just and equitable laws, and 
well ordered government, such as never has been excelled, in any 



KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL. 15 

other Christian country. While at the same time her mongrel 
compromise religion, hath been forced on her subjects by coercion, 
and her tithe extortions imposed on her agricultural subjects, and 
maintained by laws the most unjust, and unchristian, in order to 
maintain in high life, a horde of rector priests, a great number of 
whom are hereditary drunkards, gamblers, and sportsmen, fast- 
ened like leeches upon the most honest, industrious, and produc- 
tive portion of subjects, a majority of whom never enter her 
church doors. 

"And shall wear out the Saints of the Most High." (See 
notes on verse 21.) "And shall think to change times and laws." 
Hath not this been exactly the case with the church and state 
policy of this nation, since the days of Henry VIII % Hath she 
not openly avowed her reason for imposing tithes, when other 
measures had failed, in order by that means, to proselyte her dis- 
senting subjects, to comply with her man-made religion ? Al- 
though proselytism may be slower than she had anticipated, 
nevertheless, her tithe proctors are never slow in collecting the 
tenths of the poor man's bread, in very rare cases excepted, the 
widows and orphans also. And have not laws been framed by 
her parliamentary legislators, and sigued by her sovereigns, male 
and female, in order the more readily to enforce these impositions 
and exactions* 

Not only has she thought to change the times and laws, res- 
pecting the religion of the nation ; but also to change times and 
laws regulating her commerce with the surrounding nations. Her 
policy has aimed at being the manufacturing workshop of the 
world, and in order to carry out her designs, she hath increased 
her navy beyond all former precedents and hath laid embargos on 
the seaports of such nations as manifested a spirit of indepen- 
dence. By carrying out such a course of tyrannical politics, hath 
she not beggared Spain, Portugal, her East and West India colo- 
nies ; and also, poor, unfortunate Ireland, by that mode of policy, 
hath been completely beggared. 

"And they shall be given into her hand, until a time, and 
times, and the dividing of time." Different have been the opin- 
ions of theological schoolmen, about the exact amount of time 
included in these mysterious numbers. We will pass over the 
various conjectures of those which have passed under our notice. 
Although not being a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, never- 
theless we will present our opinion for consideration, which ap- 
pears to us reasonable. Suppose a time to contain one century, 
and times two centuries, and the dividing of time half a century, 
or three hundred and fifty years. We will date the rise of the 
little horn, to commence from the time the parliament of Eng- 
land, in 1534, conferred on Henry Yni. the title of " The only 
Supreme head of the Church of England upon earth." Three 
hundred and fifty years added to 1534, will make 1884. ■ Sub- 



16 KEY TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL, 

tracting 1853 therefrom., leaves thirty-one years unexpired, before 
the tyrannical reign of the little horn terminates. Again, suppose 
we reckon the rise of the little horn, to commence with the ac- 
cession of Henry to the crown in 1509, according to the latter 
hypothesis, its fall would take place in 1859. One thing is cer- 
tain, time will tell, whether we are correct in either of these cal- 
culations, or not. 

26. " But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his 
dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." 

Whether the judgment that will sit, to pass a final sentence, 
and execute it on the little horn, will be that of some powerful 
nation, such as France, or that of her own down-trodden subjects, 
as instruments in the hand of God, we know not ; but incline to 
the latter opinion ; that her own Anglo-Saxon blood, powerfully 
allied to those of the same race from the other side of the great 
waters, when forbearance with them towards the English nobility 
and aristocracy, shall forever cease to be a virtue. 

27. "And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of 
the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people 
of the Saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." 

Christ reproved the blindness of the wicked Pharisees and Sad- 
ducees by saying, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of 
the sky, but ye cannot discern the signs of the times." 

No greater sign should be asked or given, to show that the 
reign* of Anti- Christian tyranny is near an end, than to behold 
thcT tottering monarchial thrones of Europe, ready to be crushed 
and to crush one another. When that takes place, and not till 
then, may we expect the sudden enlargement of the great and 
mighty empire of the Son of God. One which will embrace the 
people of every kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven. 
And — glory be to God — that great kingdom will be an everlast- 
ing kingdom, spiritual as well as temporal, and all dominions 
shall serve and obey him. Amen and Amen. 

After taking a very concise view of this remarkable prophecy, we 
conclude by reaffirming, that Daniel's vision of the four beasts, or 
four general monarchies, and the ten horns or kingdoms, that arose 
out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, and the little horn which 
supplanted three of the ten, and arose into great power on their 
ruins, and the certain and sudden downfall of all those tyrannical 
monarchies, and the ushering in of the millennium or triumph- 
ant victory of Christ's kingdom of grace, love, and peace on 
earth, is one of the most remarkable prophecies contained 
within the lids of the bible, considering the great length of time 
required for its fulfillment, the magnitude of the events to be ac- 
complished, the extraordinarily concise manner in which it is re- 
vealed, and the very remarkable exactness of its fulfillment, 
whom none legs than the God of heaven could possibly have foretold. 



KEY TO THE LATTER PART 

OF THE 

THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 



11. "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, 
having two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." 

Two beasts are spoken of in this chapter. Protestant commen- 
tators have proven satisfactorily, that the former beast is a Popish 
beast. We will attempt to prove, that the second beast is a 
Protestant beast, of no less a personage than Henry YI1I, founder 
of the church of England. This beast is said to come up out 
of the earth. In order to understand what a prophetic beast 
means, we will quote from Daniel 7, 17 : These great beasts, 
which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth, 
&c." By hereditary descent, Henry VIII was born king of Eng- 
land and Ireland ; these were the two horns of the beast. From the 
time the Magna Charta was granted by king John, unto the 
subjects of England, the administration of the government was 
mild and lamb-like, when compared with other Catholic coun- 
tries. But Henry's rupture with the See of Rome, on account of 
his divorce from Catharine of Arragon, and marriage with Ann 
Boleyn, was the remote cause of the rise of the church of Eng- 
land. The propagation of»that church by fire and sword, caused 
this lamb-like beast to speak as a dragon. 

A historical sketch of Henry's rupture with the See of Rome, 
will shed more light on this subject. Upon Henry 's becoming 
enamored with the beauty of Ann Boleyn, whose virtue he could 
not overcome, he concluded to divorce Catharine, and raise her 
to the throne. Although Catharine had borne him many child- 
ren, the only surviving one at that period was Mary, afterwards 
of bloody memory. 

In order to accomplish his purpose, he applied unto the Pope 
to grant him a rlivorce, which was utterly refused ; Catharine 
being daughter to liie king of Spain, and nearly related to the 
emperor of Germany, whose ire the Pope did not choose to pro- 



18 KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 

voke. This threw Henry into great perplexity, to know how to 
act, in order to accomplish his purpose. " But, Dr. Thomas 
Cranmer eased his troubled mind, by suggesting that the better 
way for his Majesty would be, to consult the different Universi- 
ties of Europe on that controverted point ; the legality of marry- 
ing a brother's widow," (for Catharine had been married to 
Arthur, Henry's elder brother) . The Universities were consulted , 
and pronounced the marriage illegal. Cranmer was sent for, and 
taken into favor, and raised to the See of Canterbury. He an- 
nulled the marriage between Henry and Catharine, but not before 
he had married him to Ann Boleyn. 

"When intelligence was conveyed unto Rome, of these trans- 
actions, the Pope and Cardinals were all in a rage; the marriage 
between Henry and Catharine was pronounced valid, the king 
was declared excommunicated if he refused to adhere to the de- 
cision of Rome. Henry remained incorrigible, and the rupture 
with the church of Rome was shortly after rendered final." 

The parliament of England assembled, shortly after the deci- 
sion of the Court of Rome, and conferred on the king the title of 
the only Supreme Head of the Church of England upon Earth. 
Thus, we discover, that this beast wore the two horns in a two- 
fold sense, first, as king of England and Ireland, second, as king 
and Pope. 

12. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before 
him, and cause th the earth, and them that dwell therein, to 
worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." 

" Being now a complete counterpart of the Pope, it is very 
natural to suppose, he would act a very similar part. Separate 
as he then stood from the church of Rome, he continued to main- 
tain its dogmas, and on guarding with fire and sword, the imagin- 
ary purity of his speculative opinions. All who denied the 
king's supremacy, or embraced the doctrines of Luther, were 
equally the objects of his vengeance. Among those who fell 
martyrs for that offense, were Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and 
Sir Thomas Moore, late Chancellor." 

Henry next attempted to establish a uniformity of religion 
among his subjects, and in order to accomplish this, he caused a 
bill to be passed in parliament, called by dissenters the Bloody 
Bill, which contained six articles, as follows: "The doctrine of 
the real presence, or transubstantiation. The communion in one 
kind, or with bread only. The perpetual obligation of vows 
of chastity. The utility of private masses. The celibacy of the 
clergy, and the necessity of auricular confession. The violation 
of either of those articles, was made punishable with death ; and 
a denial of the real presence could not be atoned for by the most 
humble recantation." 

13. "And hedoeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come 
down from heaven, on the earth, in the sio;ht of men." 



KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 19 

By heaven, we are to understand the hierarchy of the church of 
England, as constituted by Henry VIII. By the earth, the laity 
or lower order of the people. The wonders Henry performed 
at that time, astonished the Christian world. He not only with- 
stood the anathemas and marrinathas, of the conclave of Rome, 
but he suppressed at one time, by act of parliament, three hun- 
dred and seventy-six of the lesser monasteries, and all the reve- 
nues, goods, chattels, plate, &c, were granted to the king. The 
fire of this mock pope's wrath which came down (or was thun- 
dered down) from the hierarchy of that speculative superstructure, 
he was erecting at that time, fell severely on the nonconforming 
portion of his subjects. 

14. "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by means of 
those miracles, which we had power to do in the sight of the beast ; 
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make 
an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did 
live." 

What king or emperor in Christendom, during the dark ages 
of Popery, who did not dread a Popish interdict ; witness the 
humiliation of Henry IV., emperor of German}^ and Louis XII., 
of France. From the days of Gregory VII., until that of Leo 
X., Popery never sustained such a humiliating insult as that 
offered by Henry VIII. He taught Popes a lesson which other 
princes of Europe have since then profited by ; that the citadel 
of Popish supremacy was not so impregnable as they had caused 
them to believe. There is no doubt that thousands of the sub- 
jects of England were deceived into the belief by reason of the 
miracles which Henry, by means of his supple parliament, had 
power to do, in the sight and against the authority of the beast. 
fancying that he was as great a favorite of heaven as his Holiness 
of Rome. 

" That they should make an image to the beast.*' u Although 
Henry had changed some of the tenets of that theological system 
i"n which he had been educated, he was no less dogmatical in that 
which remained to him than if the whole had been preserved en- 
tire. And so great was his scholastic arrogance though he stood 
alone in his belief, that he thought himself entitled to regulate, 
by his own particular standard, the religious faith of the nation." 

Hence we discover that Henry made an image to' Popery, i. e., 
by remodeling his new creed ; the basis of the church of England, 
as near as circumstances would admit of, to that of the old or 
Popish creed. 

"Which had the wound by a sword and did live." It prop- 
erly belongs to the third verse of this chapter to show who the 
beast was and when he received the wound by a sword and did 
live, which we may attempt to do at some future period, God 
willing:. 



20 KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 

15. " And he had power to give life unto the image of the 
beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, arid cause 
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should 
be killed." 

When Henry had completed, according to his theology, a reli- 
gious standard for the nation, or, in the language of the text, an 
image of the beast, " The chancellor was ordered to open the par- 
liament by informing them that it was his majesty's desire to 
extirpate from his kingdom all diversity of opinion in matters of 
religion." In consequence of this desire, the above bill was 
passed through both houses of parliament and received the royal 
assent. 

That was the power the beast possessed of giving life unto the 
image of the beast by forcing his new religion on the nation by 
parliamentary enactments and royal signatures. 

"That the image of the beast should both speak and cause that 
as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be 
killed." Henry determined that his great image, religion, which 
he had set up, should be worshiped and become the religion of 
the nation, and that no other religion should be tolerated. In 
order more quickly to accomplish his purpose, coercion was sub- 
stituted for suasion, and thousands, whose religion was dearer to 
them than life itself, suffered the rigorous, brutal penalties of the 
law. That coercive means of proselyting did not terminate with 
Henry ; there have been a number of stars of the lirst magnitude 
in the heaven of the English church, in whose veins the same 
royal blood of their old sire has ran freely, who have eaten of the 
same sour grapes, and whose teeth have been sharply set on edge 
against those who would not conform to their somewhat remod- 
eled standard creed of the mighty reformer of the Gallican church 
of England. Witness the intolerant spirit of the so-called, good 
Queen Bess, and the bloody persecution of Huguenots, under the 
reign of Charles I. and II., and James II., when thousands were 
put to death, and thousands were banished their homes, more par- 
ticularly the non -conforming clergy. Numbers migrated to Ireland , 
Holland, and this country, who carried with them their religion 
and their republican spirit, whose posterity became the great nu- 
cleus of our revolutionary lathers, viz., the posterity of the Pil- 
grims who landed on Plymouth rock. 

10. " And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, 
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hands or in their 
foreheads." 

By a right hand in script are language, when applied unto man, 
means moral, intellectual or physical power. The mark Henry 
caused those of his subjects to receive in their right hand, was 
that of the physical kind, i. e., he caused all those who wielded 
the sword to swear allegiance, not only to their king pope, but 



KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 21 

also to defend and protect, to the best of their ability, the union 
of the new church and state system inviolate against all encroach- 
ments whatever. This was the mark a certain portion of his 
subjects received in their right hand. According to phrenology, 
the forehead is the seat of the moral or ■ intellectual faculties of 
the mind ; admitting that to be true, the mark in the forehead 
means all those whom Henry caused to receive the sign of the 
cross on the forehead in baptism, such as infants, these were the 
small ones. And also those of the rich and poor, free and bond, 
who were constrained through fear, ignorance, or coercion to give 
their assent to become members of his new church establishment. 

17. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had 
had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his 
name." 

In order more fully to strengthen and establish the union of 
the new church and state system, all dissenters who had not re- 
ceived the mark, were to be expelled from holding offices of trust 
or profit in the commercial department of the nation. Those, 
and those only who had received the mark, were to be govern- 
ment favorites, fed at the beast's crib. 

" Or the name of the beast or the number of his name." That is, 
all those should be prohibited from the succession to the English 
throne who were not descendants of the blood royal of this beast, 
whose exact number we have in the 18th verse, and whose name 
was Henry VIII., king of England and Ireland. It is a remark- 
able fact that no king or queen has reigned on the throne of 
England since the days of Henry VIII., only those who could 
trace their lineage direct to him, and also at their coronation they 
swear not only to protect the code or laws of the nation, but also 
the finality of the union of church and state. 

18. "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding 
count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and 
his number is six hundred three score and six." 

The wisdom required here, is to search the records of the 
Christian world and church to find the individual, the history of 
whose life would be in exact accordance with the tenor of the 
prophecy, and whose age would be the exact number of six hun- 
dred three score and six; for the text is very express in the sin- 
gular number. 

" For it is the number of a many In casting our eye over the 
scripture history of the antedeluvian world, we find the ages of 
the old patriarchs were always expressed by days and years. But 
in order to find out the number or age of the individual here 
prophesied of, Ave must deviate from that ancient manner of ex- 
pressing men's ages ; because no man since the flood of Noah, 
has lived 666 years, and 666 days not being two years, would 
only be the age of a young child, and 666 weeks, not being thir- 



22 KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 

teen years, would only be the age of a boy. But 666 months, 
being fifty-five years six months, would be a fair average num- 
ber for the age of man since the flood. We will try the age of 
Henry VIII. by months, for the text does not expressly confine 
us to days, weeks, months, years, or even centuries. Henrv VIII. 
was born 28th July, 1491, died 28th Jan., 1547, lived fifty-five 
years and six months, or six hundred three score and six months. 

We have taken a cursory view of this remarkable prophecy, 
and feel convinced that no individual since the period St. John 
wrote this prophecy on the Isle of Patmos, has made his 
appearance in the Christian world or church, that has fulfilled 
the prophecy so nearly to the letter, in all its parts, as Henry 
VIII., of England, founder of one of the most remarkable churches 
embraced in the Christian calendar. We are aware that a great 
deal of human wisdom, learning, and deep research, have been 
used by the schoolmen, to find out the number of the beast. 
Among the champions of Protestant commentators, Bishop New- 
ton, on the prophecies, hath gotten himself a great name; lie 
very artfully hath proven, to his own satisfaction at least, that 
the two-horned beast was a part of and properly belonged to 
the seven-headed and ten-horned Popish beast, and thus artfully 
hath tried to saddle this beast on Popery ; adroitly fulfilling the 
old adage, " that only a filthy bird fouls its own nest." 

" But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the 
world to confound the things that are mighty. 

"And base things of the world, and things which are despised, 
hath God chosen ; yea and things which are not, to bring to 
naught things that are ; 

u That no flesh should glory in his presence.-' 1st Corinthi- 
ans, 1st: 27,28,29. 

We would ask the question with every degree of candor, can it 
be possible that Jesus Christ has, or will own, as an orthodox, 
evangelical, Christian church, such an one as that of England, 
with such a licentious, beastly founder as Henry VIII. Or can 
it be possible that such a corrupt fountain can send forth whole- 
some streams, or such a bad tree good fruit. It may be said 
that the tree hath been made good, therefore the fruit is good. We 
are aware that during the reign of Edward VI. and that of Eliz- 
abeth, a good deal of tinkering was made use of by Cranmer and 
other Eight Kev. D. D.'s to abstract some of the ugly features of 
Popery its god-father had moulded on it. But all their white- 
washing, rouge, or gaudy adorning could not change nature so 
much but a healthy, sound eye could easily discern the mother's 
physiognomy in the daughter's face. Did the mother proselyte 
a great part of Europe, and finally seat herself on the throne of 
Italy by the bloody sword of Charlemagne, so hath the daughter, 



KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 23 

through the instrumentality of the beast with two horns, who 
spake as a dragon, laid a sure foundation by fire and sword on 
which a superstructure hath been erected, which, for strength and 
power, display and pomposity, hath nearly eclipsed the mother, 
except in corpulency. Did the mother erect an Inquisition du- 
ring the dark ages in order to extend the borders of her Catholic 
Zion and to prevent her spiritual children from straying on the 
dangerous pastures of heretics, and commit the obdurate to tor- 
ture or the flames, so, likewise, did the daughter erect a spiritual 
and physical tribunal under Charles I and II, and James II, in 
order to extend the borders of her New Jerusalem, and extermi- 
nate the obnoxious puritans from the godly soil of her genuine 
offspring, by banishment or death. 

Had the tope indulged Henry's sensuality and granted him a 
divorce and not have excommunicated him for disobeying Popish 
orders, we have good reason to believe he never would have 
thrown off the Popish yoke, because no proof has ever been ad- 
duced to show that any reformatory change had taken place prior 
to or at the time of the separation, only such as was caused by 
wounded pride and malicious revenge, except a book he wrote 
against Luther, by means of which he obtained from the Pope 
the title of Defender of the Faith, which title the kings and 
queens of England retain unto the present day. 

Take a birds-eye view of the boasted perfection of the church 
of England. Behold her continued exaction of tithes ; robbing the 
dissenting portion of her subjects of the tenth of their hard earn- 
ed bread to support a clergy, a great number of whom are sports- 
men, gamblers, and drunkards ; who hire out their preaching to 
curates for a small moiety, not averaging more than fifty pounds 
a year, while each of those bloodsucker rectors grind out of their 
parishioners from three to ten or twelve thousand pounds a year. 
We will pass by a number of other links connecting rectors and 
bishops of like greedy, covetous dispositions, and take a peep at 
her bishops, who have the whole nation of England and Ireland 
parceled off in dioceses, claiming to be lords spiritual over the 
same, who are mostly all peers in the house of Lords. And the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the first peer in the nation, who moves 
next to the royal family, and whose consanguinity, in general, is 
easily traced to the royal stock, whose salary, exclusive of real 
estate, is said to be sixty thousand pounds a year, whose pom- 
pous style of living is only second to his Holiness of Eome, and 
the king or queen, who is the only supreme head of the church of 
England upon earth, and defender of the Gallican church of Eng- 
land's faith, who, in royal blood, majesty, might, dominion, and 
riches, far eclipses the Vicar of Christ and Peter's successor. 

Contrast the present fabric of the English church, whose 
clergy move in the first, second, or third circle of the aristocracy, 



24: KEY TO THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF REVELATIONS. 

a number of them owning large estates, whose houses are palaces, 
their coaches, horse-trapings, and livery servants nearly covered 
with silver, having body-guards and foot-runners. Whose gar- 
dens, lawns, and parks are earthly paradises. The higher order 
of whom never mingle with the lower order of men, but look 
down on them with as much contempt as if they were of a 
different species. 

Contrast, we say, this man-built fabric or earthly superstruc- 
ture, with the first Christian church planted at Jerusalem by 
Christ and his apostles, who traveled about from city to city, and 
from village to village, having neither horses nor carriages, not even 
asses nor permanent homes. "The foxes have holes and the birds 
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his 
head." Preaching the gospel to the poor, and doing good to the 
bodies and souls of men, leaving an example of benevolence and 
religion to be copied after in all coming generations of the 
Christian church. 

How easy to discover the contrast, as light to darkness, Christ 
to Belial. The one based on the principles of faith, virtue, know- 
ledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, char- 
ity. In a word, founded on the broad basis of love to God and 
man. The other on the principles and practice of pride, aristoc- 
racy, covetousness and envy. False prophets in sheep's clothing, 
but inwardly are ravening wolves, fleecing their flocks and lord- 
ing it over God's heritage. 

"Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. 

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a 
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." 

"Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them." Mat. 7th: 
16, IT, 20. 



NOTE 



The author of this little work and labor of love has been 
sorely afflicted for the last twelve years with that sore dis- 
ease, inflammatory rheumatism, throughout his whole ner- 
vous system, occasioned by heats and colds, and hard labor, 
which has crippled him for life. During the intervals of 
the most severe attacks, two of which confined him to his 
bed for nearly three years, his mind was strangely and pow- 
erfully drawn out to the study of Scripture Prophecies, par- 
ticularly those of the Book of Revelations, — a work on 
which he intends shortly to publish, in monthly numbers, 
embracing the first seventeen chapters, — the only part, the 
author believes, which has been fulfilled. 

The present little work, (and the future one, if the Lord 
enables him to publish it,) is intended for all those in 
general, who, like the author, have been deprived of a more 
liberal education. On this account, it is hoped critics will 
spare themselves the trouble of reviewing the sameT 



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